Christmas Roundup

 

Christmas this year was so much fun! I think I was maybe even more excited than the kids, haha. This was the first time in four years that we had Kylee for Christmas morning, and this was the first year that Tyler was really old enough to enjoy opening the presents. We did lots of activities leading up to Christmas including visiting Santa, going to a couple Christmas parties, playing in the (record) snow, decorating cookies, writing letters to Santa, decorating gingerbread houses, and more.

I also loved how Kylee decided, all on her own, to make a superhero pillowcase for Tyler for Christmas... such a thoughtful gift! It was so much fun teaching her how to sew.

We had the lovliest of weekends celebrating family and remembering the birth of our Savior. It was the perfect Christmas!

Hip Hop Performance

Instead of doing gymnastics this fall, Kylee decided to try out hip hop dance... and she fell in love with it! It was so fun to see her practice her moves at home and see how excited she was to go to class each week.

She had a winter recital a couple weeks ago where we got to see her class perform in their full makeup and costumes. I couldn't stop smiling at Kylee - she was so fun to watch! Here's the full performance:

Kylee's Baptism

Kylee turned 8 last month, and we were so excited to celebrate her baptism. She was baptized by Matt on Saturday, December 10th, and we were lucky enough to have our own baptismal service, complete with talks, prayers and a musical number, all by family members.

Kylee had really been looking forward to this day. She said she was excited to get baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. She was also looking forward to fasting, paying tithing, and going to Activity Days!

We has a little celebration at our neighborhood clubhouse for Kylee after the baptism, and it was such a fun way to cap off such a special day.

A few things about Kylee:

• Kylee is as close to perfect as any kid I've ever met. She is kind and thoughtful and smart. I feel incredibly lucky to be her mom.
• Kylee is SUCH a good big sister. Her brothers, especially Tyler, adore her. Kylee freely plays with Tyler. One of their favorite things to play together is "school" where Kylee is the teacher and Tyler is the student. She makes up a schedule that includes recess, coloring, snack time, math, reading, etc. Tyler loves this one-on-one time with his sister. Kylee is also sweet enough to let Tyler play when she has a friend over. Tyler thinks Kylee's friends are as much his friends as they are hers because he is always included.
• Kylee loves legos, beanie boos (stuffed animals), soccer, hip hop, and playing with friends.
• She is an excellent reader and continues to read quite a bit above grade level. She also does really well in all other subjects as well.